A motorcyclist died after he was struck by lightning while riding in rush hour traffic between Denver and Boulder, police said.Witnesses reported seeing a flash of light shortly before the motorcyclist struck the center divider on U.S. 36 Wednesday, police spokesman Tim Read said.Gary Missi, 46, of Longmont was pronounced dead at the scene.... http://www.cnn.com

A federal courthouse was locked down Thursday and the courtrooms sealed after officials announced a prisoner inside the building had escaped from U.S. marshals. Officials announced over intercoms that they were searching floor-by-floor for someone within the building who escaped the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2107263

American gun owners have deluged the United Nations with tens of thousands of letters protesting a forthcoming conference that they fear will infringe on their right to bear arms and on the July 4th holiday to boot. Sri Lankan Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, who will preside over the two-week Small Arms Review Conference beginning Monday, says the timing is a coincidence. He also insists that the delegates will talk only about the illegal possession, manufacturing and transfer of weapons. "I myself have received more than 100,000 letters from the U.S. public, saying you're having this meeting on the Fourth of July, and you will not take our guns away on that date," Mr. Kariyawasam said yesterday. "Some members of the U.S. public are totally misinformed," he added. "This conference is about illegal weapons." The United Nations estimates there are more than 600 million legal and illegal small arms and light weapons in circulation worldwide. ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060622-123549-7289r.htm

A freighter carrying more than 100 passengers and crew sank in bad weather Thursday off Indonesia's Sumatra island, and 73 people were rescued, officials said. More than 40 were still missing in the accident, which occurred about 40 miles off the port of Sibolga on western Sumatra, naval spokesman Lt. Col. Jaka Sentosa told el-Shinta radio station.He said the vessel sprang a leak in bad weather.At least three foreigners were believed aboard the ship, which was heading to the island of Nias, a popular spot for surfers, Sentosa said. It was unclear whether they were among those rescued.Two navy vessels dispatched to the scene and a passing freighter rescued the 73 survivors, Sentosa said....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200596,00.html

African bishops on Thursday applauded a decision by the U.S. Episcopal Church to avoid consecrating more openly gay bishops but said liberals must show true repentance if a rift in the Anglican community is to heal. The U.S. arm of the community made the decision on Wednesday in an about-turn aimed at appeasing the worldwide church and avoiding a split with its more conservative parts, particularly in Africa. Many African bishops condemn homosexuality as un-biblical, un-African and morally wrong. In Nigeria, the Anglican Bishop of Lagos West, Peter Adebiyi, said the vote was a step in the right direction, but that gay bishops already serving in the United States should step down. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2107089

The Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to some longtime illegal residents, upholding the deportation of a Mexican man who lived in the United States for 20 years.By an 8-1 vote, justices said that Humberto Fernandez-Vargas, who was deported several times from the 1970s to 1981, is subject to a 1996 law Congress passed to streamline the legal process for expelling aliens who have been deported at least once before and returned.After his last deportation in 1981, Fernandez-Vargas returned to the United States, fathered a child, started a trucking company in Utah and eventually married his longtime companion, a U.S. citizen.But by the time he applied for legal status -- after his marriage in 2001 -- Congress had passed the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which revoked the right to appeal to an immigration judge an order of removal....http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/22/scotus.immigration.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us